PIONEER POWER

BIG SANDY - After a 7-2 season, the Big Sandy Pioneers earned the right to host their first Six-Man playoff game in five years and Saturday, against Richey-Lambert, the Pioneers were determined to take advantage of the opportunity.

And thanks to a dominating rushing attack, that racked up eight rushing touchdowns, Big Sandy was able to do just that. The Pioneers, who trailed 26-21 at the half, stormed back in the second half, outscoring third-seeded Richey-Lambert of the Six-Man East Division 34-6 in the second half, en route to a 55-32 victory. Big Sandy is now in the Six-Man quarterfinals and will play at Bridger next Saturday.

"It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing," Big Sandy head coach Ronnie Simpson said. "You look at the support we had today (Saturday), the town shut down and came out and gave us the push that we needed. We had the cow bells ringing and everybody here was part of it, and we are just so blessed to have a community like that behind us and supporting us."

While the ending was picture perfect for the Pioneers, the beginning was less so, as Gabe Gonsioroski found Tyler Thiessen on a 24-yard pass that gave the Fusion a 6-0 lead that would last until the second quarter, when Weston Allderdice scored to tie the game 6-6.

The two teams traded scores in the second quarter, until late when Richey-Lambert, down 21-20, scored on a three-yard run by Seth Prevost, which gave the Fusion a 26-21 halftime advantage.

"We knew at the half, we needed to make some adjustments," Simpson said. "Mostly we just had to tackle better, so that was an emphasis for us in the second half."

The other emphasis in the second half for the Pioneers was pounding the rock. After Kade Strutz, Weston Allderdice and Tanner Allderdice each had rushing touchdowns in the first half, Strutz took over in the second half. Right away in the third quarter, he scored from six yards out, then scampered in from 15 yards out to put the Pioneers up 35-26. A second touchdown run by Allderdice put the Pioneers up 41-26, before another long touchdown pass from Gonsioroski got Richey-Lambert back within striking distance at 41-32 with 10 minutes left to go.

However, in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers turned to Strutz and the Fusion simply had no hope of stopping him. On the first drive of the final stanza, Strutz ripped off a long run before Allderdice finished the drive with a five-yard run. Then, Strutz escaped up the sideline for 50 yards, which set up his final touchdown of the game, a one-yard plunge which put Big Sandy in front 55-32.

"We are a smash mouth team," Strutz said. "That's just how we do it. I love running hard and hitting people. It's just what I like to do."

When it was all said and done, Strutz, a freshman, racked up 334 yards on 36 carries. He also scored four rushing touchdowns. Weston Allderdice added 83 yards on 23 carries and three rushing touchdowns of his own. Duke Darlington also contributed with two runs for 51 yards and two receptions for 26 yards.

Offensively, Big Sandy finished the game with 516 total yards of offense, compared to 322 for Richey-Lambert. The Pioneers also racked up 470 yards on the ground, while allowing the Fusion to come with only 89.

"We knew that we were going to be able to wear them down," Simpson said. "We just wanted to stick to our game plan, which was play good defense and run the ball. Eventually, we wore them (Richey-Lambert) down. They scored a lot in the first half, so the adjustments we made at the half really helped and they only got six, so that was excellent. Our defense did a great job."

Big Sandy (8-2) will now take on Bridger, the top seed from the Six-Man South Division, which advanced Friday night after shutting out Manhattan Christian 66-0. Kickoff will be set for 1 p.m.

Big Sandy 55, Richey-Lambert 32

Richey-Lambert 6 20 6 0 - 32

Big Sandy 0 21 20 14 - 55

RL - Tyler Thiessen 24 pass from Gabe Gonsioroski (PAT No good)

BS - Weston Allderdice 1 run (Pass no good)

RL - Jeff Scholla 3 run (Pass good)

BS - Kade Strutz 6 run (Pass good)

RL - Thiessen 49 pass Gonsioroski (PAT good)

BS - Tanner Allderdice 5 run (PAT good)

RL - Seth Prevost 3 run (Pass failed)

BS - Strutz 6 run (PAT no good)

BS - Strutz 15 run (Kick good)

BS Weston Allderdice 4 run (No good)

RL - Bryce Reitz 66 pass from Gonsioroski

BS - Weston Allderdice 5 run (PAT good)

BS - Strutz 1 run (No good).